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About
About
Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.
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Big Local
Big Local
Big Local is an exciting opportunity for residents in 150 areas to create lasting change in their communities.
About the programme< Back to main menuSupport centre
Essential guidance, information and ideas for Big Local partnerships, to help you deliver change in your community.
Visit the support centre -
Other programmes
Other programmes
Find out how the principles of Big Local have inspired other programmes creating change in local communities.
< Back to main menuCommunity Leadership Academy
Supporting volunteers involved in Big Local projects to develop their skills and knowledge.
Find out moreCreative Civic Change
This new approach to funding enabled communities to use art and creativity to make positive local change.
Find out more
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News and stories
News and stories
The latest news and stories from Big Local areas and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change.
ExploreGo straight to…
< Back to main menuVoices of Big Local
Inspiring stories from the people making change happen in their communities.
Read more - Insights
- Policy
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About
About
Local Trust is a place-based funder supporting communities to achieve their ambitions.
Find out moreGo straight to…
< Back to main menu -
Big Local
Big Local
Big Local is an exciting opportunity for residents in 150 areas to create lasting change in their communities.
About the programme< Back to main menuSupport centre
Essential guidance, information and ideas for Big Local partnerships, to help you deliver change in your community.
Visit the support centre -
Other programmes
Other programmes
Find out how the principles of Big Local have inspired other programmes creating change in local communities.
< Back to main menuCommunity Leadership Academy
Supporting volunteers involved in Big Local projects to develop their skills and knowledge.
Find out moreCreative Civic Change
This new approach to funding enabled communities to use art and creativity to make positive local change.
Find out more -
News and stories
News and stories
The latest news and stories from Big Local areas and beyond, exploring community power and resident-led change.
ExploreGo straight to…
< Back to main menuVoices of Big Local
Inspiring stories from the people making change happen in their communities.
Read more - Insights
- Policy
Recommendations from the programme
Key learnings and advice for those involved in running community-led creative projects, including recommendations for the community, arts sector, and funders.
- Value, invest in, and support people as your key resource.
- Listening is vital. Who are you listening to? How are they heard? How often?
- Creativity is not a luxury – it improves all our lives, in all kinds of ways.
- Every aspect of this work is about relationships – invest in them.
- Working small can be beautiful, valuable and impactful.
- Creative community engagement is highly skilled and requires hard emotional labour. It is also mainly done by women. It deserves to be more highly valued and better paid.
- Be transparent about who gets paid and how much, and who doesn’t. Don’t expect volunteers to do tasks that paid workers could and ensure that workers are paid enough to meet the project’s needs.
- Create a clear and shared long term vision at the start with your community, and keep this visible throughout your work.
- Ensure all parts of the community are involved in your decision–making. Keep reaching out to the most marginalised and excluded.
- It’s not co-creation if the ideas haven’t come from your community.
- Have an experimental mindset – take risks, be flexible and responsive.
- Prioritise environmentally sustainable practice.
- Artists can help you achieve the social impacts that are important to you.
- Artists need to be paid properly; they are skilled professionals, making a precarious living.
- Don’t dismiss the poorer neighbourhoods in your area; they are rich with ambition and talent.
- Re-think your relationship with community organisations. They are not just a ‘bridge’ to communities, but your partners or even leaders.
- Artists need help and support to truly co-create with communities.
- Be led by your values and make sure you live them in your funding practice.
- Fund work in a way that is process orientated and that prioritises outcomes over outputs.
- Think longer term. Three years is the minimum time for programmes like Creative Civic Change to have any real impact.
- Be as brave and trusting as you can, you will be rewarded.
- Peer learning as a principle and as a practice is crucial, and needs resourcing.
- You can play a role in driving change in your sector, as funders and convenors of important conversations.
- Fund core costs and allow resource for reactive spending – sometimes the most impactful money spent is unplanned and of low monetary value.
- Create space to hear about intangible impacts and stories.
